Belfry of Thuin

About

The Belfry of Thuin (French: Beffroi de Thuin) is a historic building in Thuin, Belgium. Although historically attached to a church, the bell tower has also become a municipal tower, the only belfry of the Principality of Liège. It is one of 56 belfries of Belgium and France that are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in recognition of their civic architecture and importance in the rise of municipal power in Europe.

History: The tower of the old church of Saint-Théodard, built without foundations on slate rock, is undeniably medieval and must date from the time of the greatest development of the city. In the period between 1153 and 1164, during his visits to Thuin, the Prince-Bishop Henry II of Leez decided to erect a tower for the church. This development made it simultaneously a bell tower and a communal tower, and the only belfry of the Principality of Liege. An account from 1641 speaks of "bells berfroy this town" and an agreement reached in 1667 between the Judge, communal power and Chapter indicate that each of them has the right to possess a key to the bell tower. The excavations undertaken on the site of the Chapter to the late twentieth century, reveal the existence...